Meet Councilwoman Latisha Johnson’s New Chief of Staff

Councilwoman Latisha Johnson’s new chief of staff, George Adams Jr. Image courtesy of Nick Hagen

There was a changing of the guards at District 4 Councilmember Latisha Johnson’s office a few months ago. Gary Gray, who had served as her Chief of Staff for more than four years, took a well-earned retirement to pursue other projects. George Adams Jr. will take over that position.

Latisha already knew him well through his long history of community work. “I met George over ten years ago at a local CPTED (Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design) conference,” she says. “Having conversations and realizing we both started non-profit organizations around the same time, we agreed to share learning opportunities with one another as we were starting our nonprofit organizations.

“Over the years we stayed connected as we learned how to maneuver through the nonprofit industry, engage the community and fundraise. I witnessed George build his nonprofit to be able to rehabilitate several houses, establish a community park, create homeownership opportunities for his neighbors and so much more.”

George was born and raised on the west side, graduated from Northern High School, and attended Henry Ford Community College and Ashland Theological Seminary in Ohio.

He moved to Virginia Park in 2014, where he saw that the community needed some love. “Where there was a need, I tried to get involved,” he said. Calling upon his experience as a realtor, developer, and “serial entrepreneur,” George founded 360 Detroit Inc., a nonprofit dedicated to helping Virginia Park thrive.

In a 2021 article in Model D about 360 Detroit, George said “We started 360 Detroit to address some needs in the Virginia Park community [like] boarding up houses, cleaning up alleys, cutting grass in the vacant lots…All the vacant lots, we began to transform [them] into useful green space.”

Under his leadership as Founder and President, 360 Detroit brought in more than $7 million in investments and developed over 65,000 square feet of real estate, including affordable housing options for families in the area.

When the time came to find a new Chief of Staff, Councilwoman Johnson thought of George. “We were looking for someone who would be a strategic partner and internal manager with political intelligence, discretion and trustworthiness, as well as an understanding of the community,” she says. George Adams Jr. clearly fit those criteria. We look forward to getting to know him in this new role.